# Fear and Panic tags: #game/rpg/fear-and-panic ![[Fear and Panic (cover).jpg]] ## Summary _Fear and Panic_ is a lean, mean horror engine designed for people who find _Call of Cthulhu_ a bit too concerned with the exact weight of a library book and _Mothership_ a bit too obsessed with industrial ventilation shafts. Created by Lyme, it strips the d100 horror experience down to its bloody bones, offering a "Terminus edition" (1.1) that prioritizes speed over simulation. It’s the kind of game where your "Survivor" is defined by a handful of skills and the growing list of psychological trauma they've picked up while poking things they should have left alone. ## Die Resolution Mechanics The core of the game relies on a d100 roll-under system, but it adds a few cynical twists to the old "roll and pray" formula. 1. **The Blackjack Success:** To succeed, you must roll equal to or lower than your skill. However, in an opposed roll—say, trying to hide from a slasher—the winner is the person who rolled the _highest_ successful number. It rewards being good at something without being a show-off. If everyone fails, the "least worst" failure (the highest roll) still technically wins the interaction, though usually with a "Condition" attached as a consolation prize. 2. **The Fear Economy:** Unlike other games that treat fear as a penalty or a countdown to insanity, _Fear and Panic_ treats it as currency. Survivors roll d10s to gain Fear when they see something upsetting. While having a high Fear score makes you more likely to pick up a permanent "Scar" (like becoming a "Workaholic" to forget the ghosts), you actually _want_ Fear. You spend it to trigger "Panic" effects, which allow you to reroll dice, find items you "totally had the whole time," or even "Prophesize" useful information via a convenient mental breakdown. 3. **Violence without Math:** There are no hit points. In a "Violence" roll, both parties choose to either Fight or Flee and make an opposed roll. If you win and your "Menace" stat (determined by your combat skills and your choice of weapon) is high enough, you simply inflict a "Conclusion" (like "Dead" or "Captured"). If your Menace is lower than your opponent's, you merely inflict a "Condition" (like "Injured" or "Thwarted"). It’s a binary system: you either stop them, or you just make them annoyed. ## Editions and Changes The current version, _Fear and Panic 1.1_ (also known as the _Terminus edition_), was released in 2024. While the core philosophy remains the same, this version features refined layout and visual design by Patchwork Fez Games. The most significant "evolution" across the game's short life has been its move toward a Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY-4.0) license, essentially telling the community, "Go ahead, take it, remix it—just remember to tell them who started this mess." It also explicitly markets itself as a conversion engine, providing a Rosetta Stone for translating more complex d20 or d100 systems into its minimalist framework. ## References - [Fear and Panic - Itch.io Store](https://lymetime.itch.io/fear-and-panic "null")